Automatic fuel regulator



c. L. STOKES AUTOMATIC FUEL REGULATOR Jan'. 1, l 929. 1,696,929

Filed Sept. 15, 1925 /NVENTO @Kwis Patented Jan. l, 1929.l

UNITED 'STA Y v1,696,929( TES PATENT oFFlcaf CHARLES LAWRENCE 'sroxEs on Los ANGELES, cannromna, assIeNoE 'ro cumm- B.' our, TRUSTEE, 0E GLENcoE, ILLINOIS.

-um."oiuifvrrc 4Euer. REGULATOR Myjinvention relates to improvements in apparatus for automatically regulating and controlling the priming mixture for starting an internal combustion engine.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a simplified apparatuswherein a rich priming charge is vdelivered to an in ternal combustion .engine by its suction. at low temperatures, the volume of the rich charge being suddenly reduced as soon .as

the engine has started and thereafter the volume of the charge being further gradu'ally reduced as the engine warms up and finally positively cutting off the priming timum operating temperature.

Another object of my invention is to provide simplified and improved means for the application of my method allowed in my co-` pending application Serial No. 644,923 iiled June 12, 1923.

Referring to the drawings' in which the same numbers indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a vertical view, partly in section,

showing the application of my improved apparatus. p.

Fig. 2 is a section along the lines A-A of Fig. 1.

A carburetor 1.of any well known make is provided with an intake pipe 2 with which it is connected with an internal combustion -engine for supplying the .same in any well known manner with a combustible mixture of air and liquid fuel, the air being supplied through a`passage3 and the fuel being supplied. from a `float chamber 4 and the sup- Aply of combustible mixture for operating thel engine normally is controlled by a butteriy valve 5.

Inl startingan internal combustion engine at low temperatures, however, it is always necessary to rely on an over-supply of liquid fuel to start the engine and keep it running until such time as the engine may attain an operating temperature without .excess fuel.

In the present instance this is done by attaching a casing 6 inany well known manner to the intake pipe 2` on the engine side of throttleV 5. Casing 6 contains`a recipro-` cating valve 7 adapted to slide therein and valve '.7 terminates in a` small valve point 8 j containing a plurality of orifices v9 and point- 8 is adapted to be seated primarily by the engine suction in an orice 11' giving ad mission of fuel 'and air for priming purposes the passage of said air is controlled byv valve l 15 charge when the engine has reached an op- 17 .guide nuts v26'and 27 adjustably held in position respectively by lock nuts 28 and 29 Application 4tiled September 15,1935. Serial 110.5651132.

tothe interior of. intake pi e 2. When valve 7 is normallyat rest', as o r instance when the englne is stoppedglpoint 8 will be with- '.held from orifice ll'by means of a sprin 10.

'The' casing 6 is arranged to `receive a. "el, or fuel and air, nipple 12 adapted to be con? trolled by valve 13 and a pipe 14 conveys liquid fuel to nipple 12 from. the ioat chamber' 4. An air valve 15 is rovided for ad-v mitting air, if desired, to .t e pipe 14 when liquid fuel is being drawn therethrough vby the engine suction. A n air nipple 15 is also fitted to casing 6 for passing air therein. and

Centrally of casing 6 is a valve 18 having thereon ahead 19 adapted to close the interior -of 8 and thereby the orifices 9, the other` end of 18 ybeing threaded to receive and holding therebetween one end of a bimetallic thermostat 25. .A portion of 18 is Vsquared at 2O tobe guided in a spider 21 containing a plurality of orifices 22. A valve 23 governs the admission of liquid anl fuelA to the pipe 14 from theioat chamber 4 and liquid fuel is conve ed also by a pipe 24 to the engine sideo valve 7 when t e same lis normally at rest for crankin vacuums. When the engine has fired an idling vacuum is'applied to valve 7, pipe 24 will be covered by valve 7. Thermostat 25 is .fastened to a portion of the engine 30-where lit is subjected to variations of the engine te. perature. Such may be accompllshed influence of haust gases, or to the intake air supplied to carburetor 1 and preferably I use t is latter method wherein a hot -air stove 31 surrounds the exhaustpipe 33 and also the thermostat 25, the heated air being drawn into passage 3 through a {iex'ble tubing (not shown) connecting .passage .3 and passage 34' leading from theinterior the thermostat 25, v 4

The operation of this device is 'as follows: .Preferably on startingan internal com' bustion engine, the butterfly valve 5 is closed whereuporh the enginev usual self starter,1apredetermined degree of vacuum .will revail on the en 'ne side of throttle A5. f it be assume that xthisA -many ways by exposin thermostat 25 to the the circ ating water, the ex- 4 ofstove 31 to the end that heated vair will be continuously applled to beingcranked by 'the f.'

through pipe 24 to start the engine. This movement also permits the application of said vacuum through the orilices 9 and 22 to the air passage 16 and the fuel passage 12. If it now be assumed that valve is closed and valves 13 and 17 properly regulated it will be seen that liquid fuel will be drawn from 4 through the parts mentioned to the interior of 2, the passage of the liquid fuel being hastened by the admission of the proper proportion of air to the pipe 16 and this mixture of liquid fuel and air is designed to he suiicient to start the engine quickly.

As soon as the engine fires, the idling speed being greater than the cranking speed, t e vacuum in intake 2 will jump to about eighteen inches of mercury vacuum which vacuum thereupon tends to draw the point 8 to close the orifice 11 thus reducing immediately after starting the amount of liquid -fuel and `air supplied in excess of the normal carburetor fuel controls (which latter are not shown in this drawing) by initially closing oif pipe 24. It will be seen that the area of orifice 11 is relatively small as compared with the area of valve 7 and therefore valve 7 will not be retained by the high vacuum to effectively close orifice 11 under Y normal conditions except where the area of orifice 11 is over one-half times as large as the area of valve 7 therefore there will be a minute movement of valve 7 permitting a slight opening'past the point 8 to the end that a diminished. vacuum will be applied v for drawing a diminished quantity 'of fuel and air through passages 12 and 16 to the intake 2.

If this diminished quantity of fuel and air is insucient to keep the engine running and the speed of the same will diminish, the vacuum in 2 will thereby diminish whereupon point 8 will be further forced from the orifice 11 by the spring 10 to the end that the vacuum is immediately increased for drawing augmented supplies of liquid fuel and airand thus automatically priming the engine again.

fter the engineis fired, and within a predetermined time, the heat from exhaust pipe 33 will be effective for reiection on the thermostat 25 whereby valve 18 will be moved to increasingly, and finally, force valve 7 to its seat` in orifice 11 and at the same time head 19 will completely cut off the supply of liquid fuel and air for priming purposes to the intake 2. Inasmuch as pipe 24 hasV already been covered by the initial movement of valve 7 due to the engine vacuum when idling, it will thus be seen that 'the supply of priming fuel will be absolutely cut off from the engine when the ments mentioned inasmuch as it hastens theV standardization for any particulartype of engine and at the same time gives an opportunity for varying the controls to obtain optimum operation.

I claim:

1. In a priming device, an intake manifold for an internal combustion engine, a carburetor attached thereto, a fuel reservoir supplying the carburetor Wit-h liquid fuel, means for initially supplying a rich priming charge of fuel and air to the intake manifold at a point above. the throttle from the reservoir responsive to the engine suction and means responsive to the engine suction and temperature for cuttingV off said priming charge from the intake manifold.

2. In a primary device, an intake manifold for an internal combustion engine, a carburetor attached thereto, a fuel reservoir supplying the carburetor with liquid fuel, a casing connected with the manifold, a valve actuated by the engine suction in the casing for regulating the connection between the intake manifold and the casing, means to supply liquid fuel from the reservoir to the casing and means responsive to the engine suctionand temperature for controlling the position of said valve.

3. In a priming device, an intake pipe for an internal combustion engine, a throttle in said pipe, a carburetor associated therewith, a fuel reservoir for supplying fuel to said carburetor, means for automatically supplying a stream of liquid fuel to said intake pipe at a point above said throttle at cranking speed, and means for automatically4 `supplying a mixture of air and fuel through said first named means to said intake pipe above said throttle at engine speed with ,closed throttle during the initial operation of the engine.

4. In a fuel feeding system for internal combustion engines, an intake passage, a throttle in said passage, a carburetor for supplying fuel to said passage, a pair of passages for conducting fuel-from said carburetor to said intake passage aboveV said throttle,'and means operated by the suction o f the engine for closing one of said passages, and thermally controlled means for automatically closing the other passage when passages.

6. In a fuell feeding system for internal combustion engines, an intake passage, a

'throttle in the passa e, means including a a Ul fuel reservoir for sup ying fuel to said pasy sage, a port in said passage above said" throttle, an auxiliary passage for supplying .fuel to vsaid intake passage throu h said port, means for supplying air to sai auxiliary passage and port, suction-controlled 'means forl interce ting the iow vof fuel through said auxiliary port'and means for automaticall controlling the flow of air thi-ou hv sai auxiliary.y passage. ,l

7 n a fuel feeding system for internal combustion engines an intake pipe having a port therein, a throttle below said port, means for supplying liquid fuel through 'said port on startin said engine with lclosed throttle, means for supplying air and fuel -through said port after the starting ofthe engine and before the same reaches its nor-l l mal running temperature, and means for said thermall closing said port when said engine reaches a pre etermined temperature.

8. In a fuel feeding system for internal combustion engines, an intake pipe having 'a port therein, a throttle in said pipe below said port,.means for supplying an explosive mixture to said pipe below said throttle, and means for first supplying liquid fuel and then a mixture of fuel and air to said ,intake pipe above lsaid throttle while said engine is warming up and for closing said port` when said engine reaches a predetermined temperature. Y

9. In a fuel feeding system for internal combustion engines, an intake pipe having a port therein, a throttle below said port, a

chamber surrounding said port, passages for supplying fuel to said chamber, a tubular suction valve for closing one of saidpassages slidably mounted in said chamber and provided with a reduced portion, said re-f duced portion forming'a valve seat and having its end tapered to engage said port, said tapered: end being provided with an openv ing, a spring for resisting the inward movement of said valve, a thern ally controlledl valve for engagin said sea and for forcing saidasuetion va ve to close said port, and thermedly controlled means for operating controlled valve.

Signed at 21stl day of March, A. D. 1924.

CHARLES LAWRENCE sToKEs.

ilmington, in the county of Los Angeles, and State of California, this 

